China has successfully activated its so-called “artificial sun,” a nuclear fusion reactor that could fuel its energy ambitions for years to come — if they can make it more sustainable. China's Atomic Energy Authority fired up its HL-2M Tokamak reactor for the first time.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences' fusion machine reached 120 million degrees Celsius (216 million degrees Fahrenheit) and clung onto this for 101 seconds.
Korea held the previous record of 100 million °C for 20 seconds. Now, China's artificial sun also managed to reach 160 million degrees °C (288 million °F) for 20 seconds, but there's still a long way to go to get the plasma stable at the required high temperatures.
In 2018, the reactor held gas heated beyond the 100 million degrees benchmark regarded as crucial for generating power, but could only sustain the plasma for around 10 seconds.
Now that it's held plasma at eight times the temperature of the Sun's core of 15 million °C for such a long period, the new record has nudged the world ever slightly closer to this elusive, yet highly sought-after clean power source.
What's China's 'Artificial Sun' Used For?
The purpose of the artificial sun is to replicate the process of nuclear fusion, which is the same reaction that powers the sun. This is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility, which will become the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor when it becomes operational in 2035.
Researchers estimate that the amount of deuterium - a stable form of hydrogen-containing one proton and one neutron - in one litre of seawater could produce the energy equivalent of 300 litres of gasoline through nuclear fusion.
It takes around 300 scientists and engineers to support and operate the experimental facility that contains EAST. This large, doughnut-shaped metal tube has a series of magnetic coils used to hold superheated streams of hydrogen plasma zooming around the core.
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